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Streams from Helicon

Or, Poems On Various Subjects. In Three Parts. By Alexander Pennecuik ... The Second Edition. Enter'd in Stationer's Hall
  
  

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MEDITATIONS In Sickness, Upon several Texts of Scripture relating to the Resurrection.
 I. 
 II. 
 III. 
  
  
  
  
  
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MEDITATIONS In Sickness, Upon several Texts of Scripture relating to the Resurrection.

MEDITATION I.

[Servet opus Deus ille Deus, quo territa tellus]

Then shall the Sun be darkned. Matth. xxiv. 29.

And lo there was a great Earthquake, and the Sun became black as Sackcloth of Hair, and the Moon became as Blood. Rev. vi. 12.

Servet opus Deus ille Deus, quo territa tellus
Concutiente tremit, montes tangente vaporant,
Fumifera trepidum nebula testante pavorem.
Buch. Ps.

A grand Ecclipse will darken all the Globe.
The Sun shall rise cloth'd with a mourning Robe;
Light's sweet, 'tis pleasant to behold the Sun,
But Ah, his Eyes are shut, his Years are run!

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From pitchy Air falls down the dying Lark,
Men stumble at Noon-Day, and justle in the Dark:
The World's bright Eye sees all Things in Confusion,
He weeps till blind, at Natures Dissolution:
His Light and Heat would useless be for ever,
Since all the World is dying of a Fever.
No more pale Cynthia yields her silver Light,
She wades in Blood, a strange amazing Sight!
No more can she her borrowed Lustre shew,
Exhausted is her Stock; her Brother's Bankrupt now.
She us'd to change, that she might shine more bright;
But now she's chang'd to Blood and gives no Light:
She sees the End of Time, and fickens at the Sight,
The Seas swell high to meet the falling Skies,
Above the lofty Hills her Billows rise;
And bellowing Monsters fill the Air with Cries.
The Mountains tumble down unto the Lake,
The Rocks, and all Lunatick Nature shake;
Wild Beasts distracted in the Forrests roar,
And Mortals stagger on the tot'ring Floor:
All Nature doth convulsive Motions fell,
And to the Noise of Thunder dance the Reel.

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MEDITATION II.

[My Soul come meditate the Day]

And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it; and Death and Hell gave up the Dead which were in them. Rev. xx. 13.

And the Angel which I saw stand upon the Sea, and upon the Earth, lift up his Hand to Heaven, &c. And swore that Time shall be no more. Rev. x. 5, 6.

My Soul come meditate the Day,
And think how near it stands,
When thou must quite this House of Clay,
And fly to unknown Lands.
Waitt's spirit. Song.

The Dead all startle with the Trumpet's Breath,
Which bursts the Graves, dissolves the Bands of Death:
The gloomy Grave proves faithful to her Trust,
Returns her Spoils, spues out her Skulls and Dust.
All Flesh get up, old Adam rises first,
Near to the Garden where he was accurs'd;
And Grand-Dame Eve starts up at Adam's Side,
Lovely and Fair, as when she was his Bride.

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She looks on Paradise, and streight turns wan,
For oh, 'twas there, Rebellion began:
Poor Adam casts his Eyes upon the Earth,
And sees it lab'ring in the Pangs of Birth.
The Patriarchs who'ye sleept six thousand Year,
Sleep not so sound but they the Trumpet hear;
Shake off their Sheets of Dust, and in the Field appear.
The Tombs of Kings throw out their Skeletons,
And Flesh grows quickly on the living Bones;
Then falls the Mon'ment down unto a rick of Stones.
From various Gibbets, Malefactors Bones,
Bleech'd with the Winds, and brunt with Summer Suns,
Drop from the Chains, to gather up their Dust,
Fall into Ranks, 'mongst Wicked or the Just:
They hear a Sound was never heard before,
Gabriel proclaims that Time shall be no more:
The grand Audite, the last Assize is come,
To judge the World, and give eternal Doom.
Now Saints do rise in Triumph over Death,
And Sinners rise to feel Almighty Wrath:
The pious Soul warm'd with a holy Heat,
Who often cry'd, where doth the Lord retreat,
O did I know, I would approach his Seat,
With holy haste flys to the sacred Place,
And sees mild Mercy shining in his Face.

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MEDITATION III.

In a Moment, in the twinkling of an Eye, at the last Trump, (for the Trumpet shall sound) the Dead shall be rais'd incorruptible. 1 Cor. xv. 52.

The Works of the Lord are great; sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Psal. cxi. 11.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psal. cxxxix. 14.

A gastly Sight, for lo the Dead arise,
Some without Arms and others without Eyes:
Till these come flying on the Wings of Wind,
From diff'rent Airths no more to be disjoin'd;
No single Atom of the Body's lost,
Each Part reviv'd crawls to its former Post.
Leaping with Life, the Hand finds out the Skull;
The Heart with Blood, runs till the Veins are full;
The Pulses beat, such is the Pow'r of God;
Shin-Bones come leaping to receive their Load:

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The quicken'd Dust creeps from its loathsome Den,
And Stink, and Vermine turns to living Men.
Almighty Pow'r rebuilds the stately Dome,
Behold the Pillars and the Beams do come;
The Bones are artificially unite,
Fresh oyl'd with Marrow, moisten'd full of Heat.
The Breast is cover'd with the Sternum-Bone,
The Skelet now hath got his Breast-Plate on:
That Stomach, Heart and Lungs, be free from Harm,
Lo seven strong Ribs do clasp them in their Arm,
Whose bonny Heads the Vertebræ doth find,
Their right Ends are unto the Sternum join'd.
Five bastard Ribs, the Belly doth invest;
The last and least, hangs loosely from the rest.
The Head's complete, the Vertebræ is sent,
To join this Island to the Continent.
Atlas whose Foot stands on the Shoulder-Blade,
Supports this Wise, this glorious Globe the Head:
Th'indented Sutures closely join in one,
All's safe within, the warlike Helmet's on.
For sure Defence, the Skull receives the Brains,
The Breast, with all its Parts, the Ribs sustains:
The Brain's enthron'd in their strong lofty Tow'r,
Th'an'mal Spirits elaborate as before:
Which the miraculous Machine preserves,
Circ'lating thro' their Vehicles, the Nerves,
Thro' various Ducts and Rivuletes they flow,
Dispensing Blessings to the Parts below.

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The Heart, which now with vital Heat doth burn,
To its old Purse and Thorax doth return;
Amidst its ancient Lobes resumes its Seat,
Like standing Clock-wind up, begins to beat:
Sets all the Springs to Work, maintains them all,
Conveys brisk Streams thro' many a hid Canal:
Which thro' meandring Veines, with gentle Course
Do glide, and then return unto their Source.
So all the Rivers run unto the Deep,
The Parent doth the Childrens Portion keep:
In her Exchequer all the Treasure lies,
From thence is issued out in fresh Supplies.
The Lungs do beat, the Bronchy's full of Air,
Caus'd by the Pressure of the Atmos-Sphere;
Which by Elastick Virtue entrance hath,
Filling the empty Cavaties with Breath.
The Bellows fully blown, severely swell'd,
Compressed by the Thorax is repell'd:
Thus Respiration's constantly perform'd,
The needful Air suck'd in, anon return'd.
The Curtains drawn, these lum'nous Globes the Eyes.
Roll in their Orbs with wonder and surprise;
Plac'd in the hollow Sockets of the Skull,
With Muscles cled, to make the motion full:
Now from th'exalted Mansion they behold,
The Truth of what th'inspir'd Job fortold.

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I know that my Redeemer lives,
My dear Lord Jesus comes,
To judge the Earth in Righteousness,
And raise us from our Tombs.
Tho' Worms devour my Flesh and Bones
When I am turn'd to Clay,
These Eyes of mine shall see the Lord,
At the great Judgment Day,
The spreading Ears the son'rous Trumpets hear
With strong Concussions of th'external Air;
The auditory Nerves all start for fear.
They hear a Sound was never heard before,
Gabriel proclaims that Time shall be no more.
Th'august Tribunal's in the Rain-Bow plac'd,
To this high Court all Men and Angels haste;
Lo there's Heav'ns Pursevants and Heraulds bright,
With glorious Robes of pure æther'al Light.
Titius the Pleader, is a Pannel now,
Blushes succeeds the Brass o'erspread his Brow.
Learn'd Æsculapius minds no Pill or Potion;
The Aomon promises no Declination:
Nature's upon an Chymick Operation,
The Sea it self can't quench this Conflagration.
The Infant World did in hot Lust abound,
And was by Heav'ns Electuaries drown'd,

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In Dottage now, she still more vicious grows,
And therefore dies by a Mercurial Dose.
The Sun and Moon from their high Orbs do wander,
Falling calcine the World to a Cynder.